Day 23: April 16, 2023
AZT mile 327.5 to 349.6
Hiked today: 23.1 miles / 37.2 km
AZT ascents today: 1093m , descents: 1965m
AZT hiked to date: 43.7%

The two of us set out early, hoping to walk the full distance to Roosevelt Lake Marina. It quickly became apparent that Robert’s painful right lower leg was getting worse slowing our pace at the start.

The path that yesterday was pretty much a ‘choose your own adventure’ slowly morphed into a more defined track, and it started off fairly flat. After taking an anti-inflammatory and then soaking his leg in an icy pool, the pain eased somewhat, and we were on our way.

The first significant climb was up to the top of Two Bar Mountain. Appropriately, when we turned the phone on, we had a couple of bars of reception and were able to ring Gary to check how he was doing. He had managed to get some crutches and to book his flight back home to Seattle. We hope to catch up with him there after we complete our hike.

Then it was a steep rocky track down the other side of Two Bar, and we went carefully to avoid sliding and to look after Rob’s leg. The creek at the bottom had good flow and two southbound hikers TikTok and Waffles informed us that our next ascent was as steep as the slope we had just come down. They were right, and it was a long, hot slog to the top.

From that mountain top, we followed a ridge with great views of the valley below but when we descended into it, it became obvious that the onward path would have to be another steep climb.

Each day, it seems that we find a new wildflower to photograph, and today’s was a pretty white and lavender poppy-like flower that was blooming on the hilltops.

We saw 2 snakes, but neither of them rattled. One slithered very quickly across the path in front of me. The other was sunning itself in the middle of our trail and didn’t move until we walked carefully past.

After that third steep hill climb, we calculated that we had about 8 miles still to hike, mostly downhill for the first 5. With Rob’s leg starting to throb again, we didn’t know whether we would make it. The trail followed a creek and annoyingly crossed it endless times, each time with a sandy descent to the mostly dry creek bed and ascent to the path on the far side.

The final stretch to the marina was along a dirt road, undulating steeply up and then down. Going down was hardest as we had to go slowly, using our poles to help stop us  sliding on the loose gravel. I still managed to slip over more than once, but no real damage was done.

Knowing that the marina had a restaurant hurried us along. A couple drove past us in an ATV and stopped to give words of encouragement. With still a couple of miles to go, we had to get to the restaurant before closing time. The ATVers passed again on their return to the marina. Although we declined their kind offer of a ride, we did gratefully accept their 2nd offer, which was to take our packs the last mile for us.

We did get to the restaurant just before the kitchen closed and enjoyed our meals – sirloin steak for Robert and grilled salmon for me. Both came with loads of vegies and satisfied us nicely. Tomorrow the shop will be open and we can collect the box we mailed here from Tucson. We camped at the Forest Service Information Centre which was closed, but has a water fountain and a power outlet.